


Privilege

by tigriswolf



Series: written for school [32]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Allegory, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Corruption, Drabble, Education, Gen, Government, Literacy, Metaphors, Revolution
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 15:29:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13790646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigriswolf/pseuds/tigriswolf
Summary: The sky is blue and you're falling.[allegorical drabble thing written about the state of the US educational system]





	Privilege

**Author's Note:**

> Written in 2013 as part of my final reflection in Politics of Literacy.

Let me tell you a story:

The sky is blue and you’re falling. You’ve known it was coming all day, in the back of your mind. Where you know before anyone ever tells you; where you know before you see it or feel it or hear it or smell it. You know it. You’ve known all day.

The sky is blue, there isn’t a cloud up there, and the end of the road is coming faster and faster, and you keep driving.

The sky is blue and you’re falling.

.

So, you’re driving along a road and there’s a cliff ahead. You see it, your passengers see it, everyone sees it; no one mentions it. You keep going. 

And then you go over the edge and everyone’s screaming, _why didn’t you stop? how did we get here? what’s going on?_

And as you’re falling, you think. You think about all the chances you had to stop this. All day long you could have avoided this but you just didn’t. You think back to this morning when you picked up your sister. You think about picking up Sarah and Rochelle, about your dog waiting in the backyard for you, about all the people you didn’t say goodbye to.

And you’re falling. The sky is blue, cloudless clear, and you had all day to stop this. But you didn’t. You saw the cliff, you saw the edge, and with a laugh you kept on driving.

Your sister, she grabs your hand, she clutches your fingers, she’s screaming. Sarah and Rochelle are screaming. You close your eyes and you whisper, _I’m sorry_. But it’s too late. You’re already over the cliff. You’re already falling. What’s left to do?

Nothing. It can’t be fixed. It’s over.

.

You’re driving along a road. And for miles and miles, it’s flat as a pancake. There are cliffs; they sneak up on you – except, they’ve been there the whole time. 

They’ve been there the whole time and you saw them coming and you kept on driving, laughing and smiling, singing along to the music. You saw them, you watched them grow closer and closer, and then you drove right over. 

Didn’t you?

Cry, if you want. Beg the sky for forgiveness. Hold your little sister close and pray – pray that God hadn’t been watching the whole time. Listen to Sarah and Rochelle scream and beg; there ain’t no one listening.

But you had all day. You had all day to stop this. And you saw it coming. And you didn’t.

.

You’re five and starting to read about Spot. You’re ten and taking a test you don’t understand that defines your future. You’re fourteen and taking that test again and you still don’t understand. You’re twenty and you’re graduating and you’re learning that test is a lie.

.

The sky is blue and you’re falling, and you had all day to turn around and drive the other way. Your little sister is dying. Your friends are dying. You are dying.

So why didn’t you turn around? 

.

The story ends. It’s not a happy story, but then, so many aren’t. Did you think it was?

.

.

.

This is how the story might end. Do you like it? 

… no? 

Neither do I. 

Let’s change it.


End file.
